1The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of
Nahum the Elkoshite.

2A jealous and
avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging
and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His
adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His
enemies. 3The LORD
is slow to anger and great in power, And the
LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds
are the dust beneath His feet. 4
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up
all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither; The blossoms
of Lebanon wither. 5
Mountains quake because of Him And the hills
dissolve; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His
presence, The world and all the inhabitants in
it. 6Who can stand
before His indignation? Who can endure the
burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out
like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him.
7 The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows
those who take refuge in Him. 8But
with an overflowing flood He will make a
complete end of its site, And will pursue His
enemies into darkness.

9Whatever you
devise against the LORD, He will make a complete
end of it. Distress will not rise up twice.
10Like tangled thorns,
And like those who are drunken with their drink,
They are consumed As stubble completely
withered. 11From
you has gone forth One who plotted evil against
the LORD, A wicked counselor.
12Thus says the LORD, "Though they
are at full strength and likewise many,
Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you
no longer. 13"So
now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you,
And I will tear off your shackles."

14The LORD has
issued a command concerning you: "Your name will
no longer be perpetuated. I will cut off idol
and image From the house of your gods.
I will prepare your grave, For you are
contemptible."

15Behold, on the
mountains the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace! Celebrate your feasts, O
Judah; Pay your vows. For
never again will the wicked one pass through you;
He is cut off completely.

2 The Overthrow of
Nineveh

1The one who
scatters has come up against you. Man the
fortress, watch the road; Strengthen your back,
summon all your strength. 2
For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob
Like the splendor of Israel, Even though
devastators have devastated them And destroyed
their vine branches.

3The shields of
his mighty men are colored red, The
warriors are dressed in scarlet, The chariots
are enveloped in flashing steel
When he is prepared to march, And
the cypress spears are brandished. 4The
chariots race madly in the streets, They rush
wildly in the squares, Their appearance is like
torches, They dash to and fro like lightning
flashes. 5 He
remembers his nobles; They stumble in their
march, They hurry to her wall,
And the mantelet is set up. 6
The gates of the rivers are opened And the
palace is dissolved. 7It
is fixed: She is stripped, she is carried away,
And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,
Beating on their breasts.

8Though Nineveh
was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now they are fleeing; "Stop, stop,"
But no one turns back. 9
Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!
For there is no limit to the treasure-- Wealth
from every kind of desirable object. 10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also
anguish is in the whole body And all their faces
are grown pale! 11Where
is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness and lion's cub prowled,
With nothing to disturb them?12The
lion tore enough for his cubs, Killed enough
for his lionesses, And filled his lairs with
prey And his dens with torn flesh.

13"Behold, I am against you," declares the LORD of
hosts. "I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour
your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no
longer will the voice of your messengers be heard."

3 Nineveh's Complete
Ruin

1Woe to the
bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs. 2
The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling
of the wheel, Galloping horses
And bounding chariots! 3
Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears
gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses,
And countless dead bodies-- They stumble over
the dead bodies! 4All
because of the many harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who
sells nations by her harlotries And families by
her sorceries. 5"Behold,
I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts;
"And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And show to the nations your nakedness And to
the kingdoms your disgrace. 6"I
will throw filth on you And make you vile,
And set you up as a spectacle. 7
"And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink from you and say, `Nineveh is
devastated! Who will grieve for her?'
Where will I seek comforters for you?"

8Are you better
than No-amon, Which was situated by the waters
of the Nile, With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall
consisted of the sea? 9
Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too,
without limits. Put and Lubim were among her
helpers. 10Yet she
became an exile, She went into captivity;
Also her small children were dashed to pieces At
the head of every street; They cast lots for her
honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with fetters. 11You
too will become drunk, You will be hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy. 12
All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit--
When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth. 13
Behold, your people are women in your midst! The
gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars. 14
Draw for yourself water for the siege!
Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay
and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold! 15
There fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down; It will
consume you as the locust does. Multiply
yourself like the creeping locust, Multiply
yourself like the swarming locust. 16
You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven--
The creeping locust strips and flies away. 17
Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day. The
sun rises and they flee, And the place where
they are is not known. 18Your
shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; Your
nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered
on the mountains And there is no one to regather
them.19There
is no relief for your breakdown, Your wound is
incurable. All who hear about you
Will clap their hands over you, For on
whom has not your evil passed continually?

The Holy Bible, New American
Standard Version (c)1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by the Lockman
Foundation, La Habra, CA. All rights reserved. Words
identified as being spoken by Jesus are in red.www.BibleABC.net